"This man is named Zash Caine. He was once Fiore's Minister of State, but a month ago, he shamelessly betrayed the kingdom and attempted to seize the throne using Black Magic. His plot ultimately failed."
Inside Fairy Tail's meeting room, Princess Hisui pointed toward the image floating in midair, her expression grave.
Gathered around the table were Makarov and the reunited members of Team Natsu.
Natsu stared at the gloomy-looking man in the image, his brows tightly furrowed.
Something about the guy rubbed him the wrong way immediately.
Lucy, sitting beside him, asked curiously, "So he escaped after the kingdom tried to arrest him?"
"It's worse than that."
Hisui swiped across the projection, replacing Zash's portrait with a series of blood-soaked photographs.
Everyone around the table drew a sharp breath.
The images showed soldiers who had clearly been slaughtered after a brutal fight.
"One month ago, Zash colluded with the Black Magic Cult and successfully broke out of prison. After escaping, he targeted a heavily guarded temple under the protection of Fiore's special forces, the White Tiger unit."
Hisui's expression darkened.
"Every soldier stationed there was murdered. The staff sealed inside the temple was stolen as well."
Gray raised an eyebrow.
"A staff?"
Hisui changed the image again.
A dark-blue crystalline staff appeared on the screen, ancient in design yet sharp and imposing.
"Four hundred years ago, during the Dragon King Festival, Acnologia slaughtered countless dragons. Most of their remains were eventually buried beneath Crocus—more precisely, underneath the grounds where the Grand Magic Games are now held."
"The lingering souls of those dragons remained filled with resentment, rage, and unwillingness to die. With so many remnants gathered in one place, those emotions and traces of power eventually crystallized into this."
Hisui looked toward the image.
"The staff known as Dragon Cry."
"So it's basically the crystallized hatred of all those dead dragons…"
Carla hugged herself and shivered.
"Then that staff must be incredibly powerful if it contains the leftover power of so many dragons."
Hisui nodded solemnly.
"Dragon Cry is said to contain enough Magic Power to destroy an entire nation. And in the hands of someone like Zash, who specializes in Black Magic, its effects could be even more dangerous."
Ankh sighed.
"Another nation-destroying weapon…"
He rubbed his forehead.
"This continent really has way too many things capable of wiping countries off the map."
Gray shrugged.
"The world's getting more chaotic. The worse things become, the more underground groups start digging up forbidden artifacts and trying to use them."
"Fair point."
Ankh agreed aloud, though his gaze quietly drifted toward Erza beside him.
He had to admit, Erza's recovery ability was every bit as ridiculous as ever.
Mirajane was still lying at home recovering, yet Erza had somehow dragged herself into the guild first thing in the morning for a strategy meeting.
Although…
The instant she had walked through the door and seen Ankh, something inside her brain appeared to have completely shut down.
For the entire meeting, she had been sitting there with a vacant expression and the faintest dreamy smile, staring off into space.
Fortunately, everyone else was focused on the mission Hisui had brought them, so no one seemed to notice anything unusual.
Ankh turned his attention back to the princess.
"So what exactly do you want us to do?"
Hisui quickly changed the projection once more.
This time, an aerial image of a beautiful island appeared.
"After stealing Dragon Cry, Zash fled Fiore. He then murdered several of his own subordinates and used both classified intelligence from our kingdom and his considerable military expertise as bargaining chips to gain entry into the Kingdom of Stella."
"He has since been appointed one of Stella's ministers."
Hisui's expression tightened.
"According to reliable intelligence, Zash presented Dragon Cry to the King of Stella as proof of his loyalty."
"Fiore needs you to infiltrate Stella and recover Dragon Cry before anything happens. If circumstances allow…"
She paused.
"Deal with Zash as well."
Natsu scratched his head.
"Kingdom of Stella?"
Lucy immediately supplied the explanation.
"It's south of Ishgar. The entire country sits on a large island surrounded by sheer cliffs, so it's pretty isolated from the rest of the continent."
"Easy to defend, hard to invade…"
Ankh murmured thoughtfully.
Hisui sighed.
"That geography is exactly part of the problem."
"Stella is far removed from the current battlefronts. Because they haven't personally experienced the wars devastating the rest of the world, their royal family doesn't fully understand how dangerous the current situation has become."
"My father and I are worried that if Fiore openly pressures them into handing over both Zash and Dragon Cry, Stella's king may turn completely against the rest of Ishgar."
"And perhaps even side with the Alvarez Empire."
For Ishgar, creating another enemy was the last thing anyone wanted.
Even worse would be allowing another kingdom on the continent to fall under Alvarez's influence.
Guiltina had already been steadily swallowed by the empire, while the threat facing Ishgar continued to grow.
Every remaining resource and allied nation had become increasingly important.
Stella itself was also far from insignificant.
The kingdom was famous throughout Ishgar as the land with the most beautiful starry skies on the continent, making it one of the region's most popular tourist destinations.
More importantly, Stella possessed a unique mineral called Stellarium.
It was an important strategic resource throughout Ishgar.
Stellarium could absorb the power of starlight, naturally accumulating Magic Power within the ore. At the same time, it was considerably harder than diamond.
And because absorbed starlight gave the mineral an extraordinary brilliance, refined Stellarium was also used to produce some of the continent's most expensive luxury gems and jewelry.
So while the Magic Council had approved Fiore taking action inside Stella, it had also made one thing very clear—
avoid destroying relations with the kingdom unless absolutely necessary.
That was why King Toma and Princess Hisui had chosen to hire guild mages rather than send an official military force.
"We were already desperate enough to ask Sting and the others from Sabertooth for help."
Hisui looked exhausted just remembering it.
"But the Black Magic Cult interfered with their operation and exposed them before they could complete the mission."
"They came back empty-handed."
"Even Sabertooth couldn't handle it?"
Gray looked genuinely surprised.
The mission had sounded relatively straightforward at first.
Now he was taking it considerably more seriously.
Hisui nodded.
"The Black Magic Cult is extremely active inside Stella. We suspect the kingdom has been deliberately turning a blind eye while Zash works with them on certain… questionable projects."
Stella lay in southern Ishgar.
It had never been dragged into the Three-Continent War, nor had Alvarez's later invasion directly affected it, leaving the kingdom almost completely untouched by foreign enemies.
Unfortunately, southern Ishgar had also become the region where dark organizations were currently most active.
Ankh leaned back slightly.
"So this time we're potentially dealing with both the Black Magic Cult and Stella's national defenses."
He looked directly at Hisui.
"What if we confirm that the King of Stella himself is working with the cult?"
"Do we still have to worry about preserving the political situation?"
Hisui shook her head.
This time, her answer came without hesitation.
"I already submitted that possibility to the Magic Council, and the proposal was approved."
Her expression hardened.
"If Stella is confirmed to be working with the Black Magic Cult…"
"Then there is no longer any need to hold back."
"Use whatever force is necessary."